Monthly Archives: August 2016

Reflecting on why it is I keep coming back to this blog and I realise that it is purely for the reflective time spent on why I believe learning is a “life blood” that naturally runs through all of us.

For some it runs freely and smoothly while for others it gets “clogged” up with an insistence that there is an ongoing blockage for the need to learn. Whether it be excuses or resistance to upset the “norm” of our lives.

As I think about young students in a classroom, or anywhere for that matter, there is a insatiable desire to learn. It may not be in the Maths lesson Period 7 on a summer afternoon in a classroom with no air conditioning but in their overall “desire” is to understand their world and “make a dent in it”.

As adults, this desire seems to waver in some but thankfully not all. It becomes a load, and “overwhelming luggage” to get to our next destination. I have heard colleagues discuss learning, whether professional or tertiary based, as too unbearable and painful as if they were pulling a wheelbarrow between their teeth up a steep incline.

Whatever happened to “For the love of learning”? For the pure knowledge that your cognitive space is motivated and enhanced. That your world may seem more interesting to try to understand. That your life may become more educationally 3Dimensional.

Learning is not a given. Learning is not something that you “order” to suit your needs at that moment in time. Learning is not about already knowing something and resisting the new knowledge. Learning is the new! Learning is pushing through obstacles and finding things that you didn’t even know existed. Learning is about stopping at a particular moment and inhaling new found knowledge. Learning is about success and failure. Learning is about discussing with others and coming up wth knowledge that is new to you.

If we are relying on “learning” to be a slow moving, gentle cruise along the mild river of life, we are shutting our eyes to so many “adventures” along the way. I know I want my learning to be a “water rafting” ride in life. I want the ups and the downs, the screams of fear and the screams of success. And I want to know that at the end of my life, I have had the “learning” ride of my life.

So many of us have learning lapping at our fingertips within the reach of our keyboard and computer but we find the reasons for sending it away or upturn our noses at the chance to learn. For others on this planet, learning is so valuable that they risk their life. The village people of Atuleer Village in China are such brave advocates for the power and privilege to learn. (see video)

The next time you have the opportunity to ‘learn something” don’t look for the excuses nor make the excuses. Instead, strap your helmet on, grip the oar as tight as you can and get ready to run down the river with the white water rushing around you. You’ll see it can be the best ride of your life!